7 Gadgets You Need To Exercise Without Getting Off The Couch

Just because your life revolves around your living room couch — whether you whittle away the hours playing video games, blogging, or buying and selling action figures on eBay — doesn’t mean you can’t have the body of a chiseled supermodel.

Many will try and tell you that heading to the gym and using complicated workout equipment is the only way to build muscle and tone your body, but those are lies. We’ve put together a list of gear that will not only help get you in shape, but also allow you to do so from the comfort of your sofa. Feel the (gentle) burn.

Power Assist Pedaler
An exercise bike might be a good alternative to leaving the house for a long ride, but bike seats are uncomfortable no matter where you use them. So this set of pedals provides a similar workout while letting you remain seated on your chesterfield’s comfy cushions. As an added bonus, since it’s designed for patients requiring rehabilitation, this set of pedals is actually powered. So it feels like you’re riding down hill the entire time. That right there is innovation people. $US150.

Elastic Hand Fitness Trainer
TV remotes and gaming controllers are unfortunately not designed with a lot of resistance when it comes to pushing buttons. So if you want to keep your hands and fingers in shape, you’ll have to look to this elastic exerciser for a perfect hand model figure. Every digit gets strapped in to its own elastic, which provides significant resistance as you open and close your hand. Not only will you notice thinner, svelter fingers as you use it, but your reaction time when changing the channel away from an infomercial will be vastly improved. $US30.

Isometric Resistance Upper Body Strengthener
Free weights? Dumbbells? Whatever. You don’t need to kill yourself actually lifting things to strengthen your upper body. Pushing and pulling on this double-handled device promises the same results — improving bone density and mitigating muscle loss — without all that strain of a real workout. An LCD display shows your applied force while programmable timers ensure you properly complete one of 23 included exercise routines. Or you can just use it to remind you when a TV show is starting. $US60.

Tua Viso Facial Muscle Toner
Crunchy thick-cut potato chips are an excellent way to tone the muscles in your face, but they tend to pack on the kilos below the neckline. Instead, try this device which applies mild electrical stimulation to your facial muscles that strengthen and tighten with every contraction. When used for just a few minutes every day it promises to help reduce wrinkles, remove bags under your eyes, and even lift your cheeks without surgery. It’s sure to have family members who stop by to make sure you haven’t died from your sedentary lifestyle remarking that it only looks you spent the past five years on the couch, instead of 10. $US300.

Dynaflex Gyroscopic Powerball
These powerballs actually provide a surprising workout all the way up your arm. A spinning flywheel inside creates gyroscopic forces that push and pull on your arms with a remarkable amount of force. They’re a little tricky to get started if you haven’t used one before, so the included base will get the flywheel spinning for you, with the RPMs displayed on its tiny LCD display. After that it takes minimal effort to keep the ball spinning, making this a particularly passive way to build muscle. The only catch? They can be extremely loud, so you’ll have to crank your TV’s volume for the two minutes a day you use this. $US65.

BodyVib Vibrating Dumbbells
As long as you can hold a remote, you can in theory get a workout from these BodyVib weights. Instead of just sitting there, each one contains an oscillating vibrator which is supposed to make your weight lifting routine even more intense. So by my logic, if it can make a lifting routine more intense, it can also make just holding them more intense. So forget about pumping iron as they say, as long as you can get these off the ground and switched on, I’m sure you’ll be feeling the burn in no time. $US1030.

Rhythm Slim Chin Exerciser
You might think the only way you can get in shape is with the help of a personal trainer at the gym, but did you know they often neglect one of the most important areas of your body? That’s right, your neck. How can you take someone seriously when all they care about is your abs and biceps that are hidden under clothing all day?

Take things into your own hands with this slim chin exerciser that focuses on the part of your body that the fast food delivery person sees every day. You just jam this thing under your chin and press down with your head. Three minutes a day is apparently all it takes to eliminate multiple chins and reduce the neck pain you usually get from raising your head to look at the TV all day. $US137.

Photo: Shutterstock/Peter Bernik